international higher education countries and regions 21 competed in terms of RAE in 1992, 1996, and 2001. some experience, they clearly felt that, when needed, many The sample includes 165 British university presidents, areas of managerial expertise could be brought in. those who have led the 55 institutions over approximately a 20- year period. Again, the focus is on presidents’ lifetime cita- Why Might Scholarship Matter? tions, normalized for discipline and used as a proxy measure The root of this question is about context—namely, does lead- of each individual leader’s past research productivity. ing a university differ greatly from leading any other organiza- tion? Of the 165 presidents in this study only eight were not Evidence of Causal Link career academics. To explain the faculty leadership norm The longitudinal study uncovers evidence consistent with the among UK research universities, university presidents cited existence of a causal relationship between the research ability three general themes. The first was about the importance of of a leader and the future performance of the university. Thus, gaining credibility and respect from peers. It was suggested across the nine years, universities led by better scholars went that a good scholar will appear more credible, which enhanced a leader’s influence. Second, leaders needed to act as the arbiters of quality—to set the institutions’ academic standards. The longitudinal study uncovers evidence consistent Therefore, in the words of one leader, “the standard-bearer has with the existence of a causal relationship between to first bear the standard.” Finally, leadership required fully the research ability of a leader and the future per- understanding the university’s business and culture, a capaci- ty they felt was not easily achieved by nonacademics nor, to a formance of the university. lesser degree, by those who gave up research a decade earlier. It was also suggested that being a scholar signals that a leader on to perform better in terms of RAE measurements. The data may well sympathize with the needs of other scholars. indicate that the top-performing institutions were dispropor- tionately led by presidents with higher lifetime citations. Put Conclusion simply, of the total 55 universities in the sample, the 10 percent Earlier research has uncovered a pattern showing that top uni- that improved the most were led by presidents with average versities and business schools are led by top scholars. A recent lifetime citations that were four and a half times higher than longitudinal study has started to reveal a causal relationship those of presidents who led the 10 percent of universities that between the former research success of a university president improved the least. and the future performance of the respective university. This evidence suggests that research universities need more than Scholarship or Management? managers to lead them, specifically, that universities are organ- Scholarship does not serve merely as a proxy for either man- izations requiring leaders to have expertise from within the agement experience or leadership skills. Of the 165 presidents academy. The appropriate level of scholarship for a leader may, in this study most were either deputy-heads or had led major ultimately, depend on the ambitions of a university. centers and laboratories before their step to the top position. Maybe a different question to ask is does management matter more than scholarship? Twenty-three leaders of UK and US research universities were interviewed. The majority defined leadership as setting the overall direction and planning the execution of strategy. Private Tutoring in India Interestingly, the leaders interviewed overwhelmingly saw Pawan Agarwal themselves as responsible for developing university strategy, albeit admitting that a process of consultation followed. Increasingly, UK university presidents are trying to central- Pawan Agarwal is a visiting scholar at the Indian Council for Research on ize decision making, a customary US structure. Many regard- International Economic Relations, Core 6A, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi ed making decisions by committee both inefficient and unten- Road, New Delhi-110003, India. E-mail: [email protected]. able. Commonly, they also expressed frustration at not being able to appoint members of their own top management team. ndia has a tiny quality sector in higher education. The seven Deputies, deans, and even heads of departments were tradi- IIndian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and six Indian tionally appointed by committees of academics, with numbers Institutes of Management (IIMs) are at the top of this quality sometimes as high as 100. Most of the interviewed leaders had hierarchy. With a strong meritocratic tradition, these institu- successfully changed the process of appointing top teams in tions are ranked among the most highly selective higher edu- their organization, allowing leaders greater powers of selec- cation institutions in the world. Entry into many other medical, tion. engineering, and management institutions is just as difficult. While most saw it as essential for presidents to have had As a result of strong linkages between admission to these insti- international higher education 22 countries and regions tutions and later life opportunities, these institutions have Is Private Tutoring Bad? high-stakes entrance exams. Strategic interventions by stu- In a 1999 nationwide survey, two-thirds of the people dents and parents to improve performance on these tests have expressed the opinion that coaching institutes flourish because stimulated a rapid growth of private tutoring in India. of the poor quality of education; nearly 90 percent stated that even the best students feel the need for systematic coaching. Changing Patterns Ninety percent of parents were even prepared to pay the high There is a long tradition of private tutoring in India. Earlier, a fees for private tutoring since they felt that this would be an teacher used to make some money by teaching a gathering of essential investment in their children's future. While no sys- 10 to 15 students in a makeshift classroom in his house after tematic study has been conducted on the influence of private school. He solicited students through word of mouth. (This tutoring on student performance, the fact that nearly 60 per- home-based private tutoring is referred to as “private cent of students who qualified for admission to IITs in 2004 tuitions.”) This form of tutoring essentially provided remedial had received some form of private tutoring seems to suggest classes for academically weak students. that there is a linkage. The focus on admissions exams of reputed institutions and Private tutoring in India has become one of the most impor- a plethora of tests for entry into government and the public tant, yet unacknowledged, factors in children’s performance on sector has now transformed the tutoring business. Prime com- the high-stakes entry tests. The inability of families from the mercial addresses with spacious classrooms capable of accom- lower-income population to spend much on tutoring results in inequalities in academic competitiveness, particularly in rural There is a long tradition of private tutoring in India. areas. This situation skews the class-mix in higher education, particularly in institutions with competitive entrance exams. Moreover, private tutoring appears to cause some prob- lems—including a weakening of students’ self-directed learn- modating hundreds of students and specialized, full-time ing capabilities, students’ low engagement in classroom teach- teachers are now offered. Classrooms are now air-conditioned ing, and undue pressures (both financial and psychological) on and equipped with modern teaching aids and comfortable fur- parents as well as students. Private tutoring also increases niture. Customized education packages, glossy brochures, and inequalities in access to highly selective higher education insti- a complete marketing strategy for promotion are provided. tutions. The tutoring culture is making education a unifocal Though this continues to be a largely urban phenomenon, pri- exam-oriented activity. Instead of imparting a holistic educa- vate tutoring has made inroads in rural areas as well. tion, it force-feeds students with knowledge to get high marks No longer a covert job, private tutoring has become a boom- but does not enhance the questioning, reasoning, or analytical ing industry. This organized private tutoring is referred to as ability so vital to meeting the challenges of life. coaching classes in India. Big private players—such as FIIT This phenomenon can be observed in other countries. The JEE, IMS, Career Launcher, and Career Point—have nation- effectiveness of Japan’s school system in teaching difficult sub- wide franchise operations. Some of these firms are even offer- jects like math and science is often attributed to the wide- ing coaching to students in the United States. spread use of after-school tutoring known as juku and yobiko in Many coaching centers are bad and indifferent, charge Japan. In Korea, high levels of family expenditure on private heavy fees, and prey on the anxieties of parents. Teachers from tutoring (hakwon) is believed to have the salutary effect of regular schools moonlight at these centers and use quasi- ensuring high academic achievement on the part of Korean blackmail methods to exact demand for tutoring from their students, particularly their high science and